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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, § 

Chap. .1. J.I.L.--- I 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. \ 



II 



PROCEEDINGS 



OPENING 



Williamson Free School 



MlEchanical TPrades. 



October 31st, 1891. 




c-o 



ii^'^' 



The original Trustees appointed by the Foundation Deed 
of I. V. Williamson, dated December ist, 1888, were: — 

John Baird, Edward Longstreth, 

James C. Brooks, Wii,i.iam C. L,udwig, 

IvEmuei* Coefin, Henry C. Townsend, 

John Wanamaker. 



The present Board of Trustees consists of the following : — 

HENRY C. TOWNSEND, Chairman, 
JAMES C. BROOKS, Treasurer, 
JOHN H. CATHERWOOD, 
IvEMUEIv COFFIN, 
SAMUEL B. HUEY, 
EDWARD LONGSTRETH, 
JOHN WANAMAKER. 

SECRETARY, 

AI^FRED HEI.MBOI.D, JR. 



CITY office: 

Room No. 39, Forrest BuHvDing, 

119 South Fourth Street, 

PHII<ADEIvPHIA. 



OFFICERS, TEACHERS, ETC. 



PRESIDENT, 

JOHN M. SHRIGIvEY. 



SUPERINTENDENT, 

ROBERT CRAWFORD. 



TEACHER OF ENGLISH BRANCHES, 

ABBIE A. BYRE. 



TEACHER OF DRAWING AND PENMANSHIP, 

H. S. BITTING. 



TEACHER OF WOOD WORK, 

FRANK GRANT. 



HOUSEKEEPER, 

EMMA STURR. 



Sarah M. Richie, 



MATRONS, 

Susan S. Cassin, 



Mrs. Alonzo Dalton. 



ENGINEER, 

ALONZO DALTON. 



CLERK, 

ALAN LEAMY. 



Post-Office Address, 
Williamson School, Delaware Co., Pa. 



P. R. R. 



Railroad Station Address, 

WILLIAMSON SCHOOL, 

(Central Division P. W. & B. R. R.) 

Delaware Co., Pa. 



On the afternoon of Saturda}^, October 31st, 1891, a large 
and representative audience from the city of Philadelphia 
and its vicinity, in response to an invitation extended by the 
Trustees of the Williamson Free School of Mechanical 
Trades, assembled in the auditorium of the Main Admin- 
istrative Building, at Williamson School, on the line of the 
West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad, near Media, 
Delaware County, Pennsylvania, to witness the exercises 
attending the formal opening of the school. 

Mr. Samuel B. Huky, one of the Trustees, presided, and 
in opening said : 

In a Christian land it is to be assumed that the blessing 
of God should be invoked upon the beginnings of educa- 
tional institutions. In the foundation deed for this school 
Mr. Williamson said : "I desire and direct that the moral 
and religious training of the scholars shall be properly looked 
after and cared for by the Trustees, but that there shall be no 
attempt by the Trustees at proselytism among the scholars, 
and no favoritism shown by the Trustees to any particular 
sect or creed." 

While this clause does not in terms indicate that our re- 
ligious services shall not be conducted by clergymen, yet the 
Trustees have thought that its spirit would be best carried 
out by placing such services in the hands of laymen of ap- 
proved Christian character. They have therefore invited Mr. 
B. B. Comegys, whose interest in all movements looking to- 



7 
wards the education and care of the 5^0 ung is so well known, 
to lead us in an opening prayer asking for God's blessing 
upon the institution, interest in whose welfare has brought 
us together here this afternoon. 

Praybr by B. B. Comegys. 

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in 
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us 
our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. 
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 
forever, AMEN. 

O God, L,ight of the hearts that see thee, and lyife of the 
souls that love thee, and Strength of the thoughts that seek 
thee, from whom to be turned away is to fall, and to whom 
to turn is to rise, and in whom to abide is to stand fast for- 
ever ; grant us now thy grace and blessing as we are assem- 
bled to call upon thy name. 

We thank thee for the pleasant things about us to-day — 
for this great company assembled, and for their sympathy 
with us in the work which brings us together. We thank 
thee for putting it into the heart of the Founder of this 
school to set apart a portion of his wealth for so excellent a 
purpose ; for the good thoughts he had for the young ; for 
his desire that the}^ should be instructed in useful trades ; for 
the value he placed on liberal education and intelligent 
handicraft ; for his choice of the men to whom this great 



work is committed ; and for the wisdom and devotion they 
have manifested in the discharge of their responsible ofl&ce. 

And now we earnestly pray, O God, that thy blessing may 
rest upon this school. Give wisdom and grace in large 
measure continually to the Trustees, that they may always 
choose the best men and women to continue the work which 
under thy Providence is now begun. Give thy blessing to 
those who are chosen to teach and govern in this house. 
lyCt a deep sense of responsibility and of their obligations to 
thee fill their minds and hearts. Help them to train the 
hand, the mind and the heart to the love and the service of 
God, and to the love and the service of their fellow-men. 

Almighty God, the source of all wisdom and holiness, who 
by thy Word and Spirit dost conduct all thy servants in the 
ways of peace and righteousness , inviting them by thy prom- 
ises, winning them by long-suffering, and endearing them by 
thy loving-kindness ; grant unto us so truly to repent of our 
sins, so carefully to reform our errors, so diligently to watch 
over all our actions, so industriously to perform all our duty, 
that we may never willingly transgress thy holy laws ; but 
that it may be the work of our lives to obey thee, the joy of 
our souls to please thee, the satisfaction of all our hopes and 
the perfection of all our desires to live with thee, in the holi- 
ness of thy kingdom of grace and glory. 

Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with 
one accord to make our common supplications unto thee ; 
and dost promise that when two or three are gathered to- 
gether in thy name, thou wilt grant their requests ; fulfil/ 



9 
O L,ord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be 
most expedient for us ; granting us in this world knowledge 
of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. 

AMKN. 

Mr. Huey then said : 

Mr. Williamson was much concerned about the men whom 
he should intrust with the erection and maintenance of this 
school, and naturally turned to those in whom he had learned 
to confide. With the possible exception of his executor, 
Mr. Cummins, whom we have the pleasure of having with 
us this afternoon, there was no man with whom he consulted 
more freely and upon whose judgment he placed more de- 
pendence tha^ Mr. Henry C. Townsend, who is now the 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees and who has been gener- 
ous to a fault in his devotion of time and labor to the exe- 
cution of Mr. Williamson's wishes in connection with the 
erection of these buildings. The Trustees were therefore 
unanimous in the belief that he of all others was the one 
best fitted and equipped to present to you this afternoon an 
account of what led up to the idea of this school, what has 
been done in connection with its curriculum and selection of 
students, and what the hopeful anticipations of the Trustees 
are for its future, I beg to introduce to you Mr. Henry C. 
Townsend. 



lO 



Address by Henry C. Townsend, Chairman of The 
Board of Trustees. 
In this locality, so near the spot on which William Penn 
landed on his first visit to his province of Pennsylvania ; in 
this presence composed largely of descendants of his follow- 
ers in religious faith, and of citizens of Philadelphia, the city 
of his creation, and on this occasion devoted to exercises 
commemorative of the opening of a new Institution for free 
instruction in useful and practical learning, it seems appro- 
priate to give a short sketch of the history of public educa- 
tion in Pennsylvania, with a brief reference to the men who 
may be regarded as its fathers and founders, and thus to show 
a direct connection between them and The Williamson Free 
School of Mechanical Trades. 

Wlckersham in his ' 'History of Educatio7i in Pennsylvania,''' 
page 19 saj'S : 

' ' The root of much that is admirable in the history of 
Pennsylvania, including her educational policy, can be traced 
to certain doctrines of the Friends or Quakers, and to the 
broad statesmanship of their leader in America, William 
Penn . ' ' 

The belief professed and doctrines taught by Friends, their 
consistent lives and their silent, spiritual mode of worship, 
were calculated to attract the thoughtful, the reflecting and 
educated rather than the ignorant. Included in the member- 
ship of the societ}^ were such learned men and accomplished 
scholars as George Fox, (who was originally a shoemaker,) of 



whose Journal, Spurgeon, the distinguished Baptist preacher 

of London says : 

"His life well repays the earnest student. It is a rich 
mine. Every page of it is as precious as solid gold. Books, 
nowadays, are hammered out, and you get but little metal in 
acres of leaves ; but the Journal of George Fox contains 
ingots of gold, truths which require to be thought of month 
b}^ month before you can get to the bottom of them." 
John Woolman, (who started in life as a tailor,) of whose 
Journal, Crabbe Robinson says in his diary, "A perfect 
gem. His is a beautiful Soul. An illiterate tailor, he 
writes in a style of the most exquisite purity and grace. 
His moral qualities are transferred to his writings. Had he 
not been so ver}^ humble, he would have written a still better 
book, for fearing to indulge in vanitj', he conceals the events 
in which he was a great actor. His religion is love. His 
whole existence and all his passions were love ; ' ' and Charles 
Lamb says of him : 

' ' Get the writings of John Woolman b)' heart and love 
the earl}' Quakers . ' ' 

Robert Barcla)^ Thomas Loe (by whose preaching William 

Penn was convinced of the truth as professed by Friends,) 

Thomas Ell wood, the pupil and friend of Milton, Edward 

Burroughs, Isaac Peniiington, Arscott and Claridge. 

' ' Among the early settlers of Pennsylvania might be named 
a long list of scholars and men of ability such as the accom- 
plished James Logan, Penn's friend and secretar}^ and the 
founder of the Loganian Library, Governors Thomas Lloyd 
and Andrew Hamilton, Pastorius, the Sage of Germantown, 
master of seven or eight languages, Kelpius, 'the learned 
mystic of the Wissahickon,' Keith and Makin, teachers and 
authors, David Lloj-^d, Christopher Taylor, a profound Latin, 
Greek and Hebrew scholar, Thomas Wynne, Story, Norris, 
Brooke and many others not less distinguished." 

(Wickersham p. 26) and to which may be added such 

names as Samuel Carpenter, Edward Shippen, Anthony 

Morris, James Fox, William Markham, Israel Pemberton 

and others eminent in public affairs. 



Judge Pennypacker in a recently published article entitled 
' ' The University of Pennsylvania in its relation to the State 
of Penna." (Penna. Mag. of History and Biography, No. 

I, Vol. XV, p. 88,) says : 

' ' The settlement of Pennsylvania being due to the unrest 
of the members of a religious sect whose advanced thought 
brought them into conflict with existing conditions in Eng- 
land, and the moral and mental breadth of its founder hav- 
ing led him to offer it as a home not only for those of his 
own way of thinking, but for all in that island and upon the 
continent who had in vain wrestled against intolerance, it 
was natural that his province should attract more men of 
learning than other colonies whose promoters were simply 
seeking for profit or were bent upon the enforcement of 
illiberal policies . ' ' 

William Penn, the founder of the province which has 

developed into the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a 

wise and practical legislator, the most distinguished and 

successful colonizer of his time, was an accomplished student 

of Oxford University and a voluminous author. Of him an 

authority as eminent and impartial as the late Ch. Justice 

Sharswood said in an address before The Historical Society 

of Penna. : 

' ' Our founder had well studied the science of govern- 
ment and laws, though he was no lawyer by profession. He 
drew his first principles on this subject from the most authori- 
tative source. He held that 'the glory of God Almighty 
and the good of mankind are the reasons and the object of 
government and therefore government itself is a venerable 
ordinance of God.' " 

Another of his principles subsequently adopted as the basis 

of the Declaration of Independence was that : 

' ' Any government is free to the people under it whatever 
be its frame, where the laws rule and the people are a party 



13 

to those laws, and more thpi this is tyrann3^ oligarchy and 
confusion." 

With this knowledge of the character of William Penn it 
is quite natural that we should find in his frame of govern- 
ment announced as early as April 25, 1682, a provision, 
' ' that the Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and 
order all public schools and encourage and reward the auth- 
ors of useful science and laudable inventions." 

He also in his ' ' Laws agreed upon in England ' ' follow- 
ing his " Frame of the Government" for his colony in sec. 
28 provides 

' ' That all children within this province of the age of 
twelve years, shall be taught some iise/id trade or skill, to 
the end none may be idle, but the poor ma}^ work to 
live, and the rich, if they become poor, may 710 1 want. ' ' {Charter 
to William Pe7in a7id Laws of Provi7ice of Pe7i7isylva7iia passed 
between 1682 and 17 10 published by State of Pennsylvania 
1879, p. 102.) 

As early as the year 1683, before the worthy followers ot 
Penn were comfortably housed on the margin of the Dela- 
ware, a pamphlet was published which is found in Thomas 
Budd's book entitled ' ' Good order established m PeTinsylvania 
a7id New fersey,'' published in 1685, from which the follow- 
ing extracts are made : 

' ' Now it might be well if a law were made by the Gover- 
nors and General Assembly of Pennsylvania and New Jersey 
that all persons inhabiting in said provinces do put their 
children for seven years to the public school or longer if 
the parents please. Second. — That schools be provided in 
all towns and cities, and persons of known honesty, skill 
and understanding be yearly chosen by the Governor and 
General Assembly, to teach and instruct boys and girls, m 
all the most usefiil arts a7id scie7ices, that they, in their youth- 



14 

ful capacity may be capable to tiiiderstand, (as the learn- 
ing to read and write true Knglish, L,atin and other useful 
speeches and languages, and fair writing, arithmetic and book- 
keeping;) and the boys to be taught and instructed in some 
■mystery and trade, as making of mathematical instruments, 
joinery, turnery, the making of clocks and watches, weav- 
ing, shoe making, or any other trade or mystery the school 
is capable of teaching ; the girls to be taught and instructed 
in spinning of flax and wool and knitting of gloves and 
stockings, sewing and making of all sorts of needle work, 
and the making of straw work, such as hats and baskets, 
etc . , or any other art or mystery that the school is capable of 
teaching. Third. — That the scholars be kept in the morn- 
ing two hours at reading, writing, book-keeping, etc., and 
other two hours at that art, mystery or trade that he or 
she most delighteth in, and then let them have two hours 
to dine and for recreation ; and in the afternoon two 
hours in reading, writing etc., and the other two hours at 
work at their several employments. Sixth. — L,et looo acres 
of land be given and laid out in a good place, to every public 
school that shall be set up and the rent or income of it to go 
towards the defra3dng of the charge of the school . Seventh . 
— And to the end that the children of the poor people and 
the children of Indians may have the like good learning 
with the children of rich people, let them be maintained free 
of charge to their parents out of the profits of the school 
arising by the Work of the scholars, by which the poor and 
the Indians, as well as the rich, will have their children 
taught; and the remainder of the profits, if any there be, to 
be disposed of in the building of school houses and improve- 
ments on the I GOO acres of land which belong to the school. ' ' 

The suggestions and recommendations of this pamphlet 
soon took practical effect, as at a meeting of a council of 
Friends in Philadelphia, held i8th of Tenth month, (Octo- 
ber) 1683, the following minute was adopted: 

' ' The Governor (William Penn) and council having taken 
into serious consideration the necessity there is for the in- 
struction and sober education of youth in the town of Phila- 
delphia, sent for Enoch Flower, an inhabitant of said town, 
who, for twenty years past, hath been exercised in that 
care and employment in England, to whom having com- 



15 

municated their minds, he embraced it upon the following 
terms : 

To learn to read English — 4s. by the quarter. 

" " and write " 6s. " " 

" " " " " and 

cast accounts . . . 8s. " " " 

For boarding a scholar, that is to say diet, washing, lodging 
and schooling 10^ for one whole year." 

Six years later in 1689 the followers and contemporaries 
of William Penn imbued with his wise, practical and religi- 
ous views , established and opened in Philadelphia ' ' The 
Friends ' Public School , ' ' which was incorporated by Deputy 
Governor Markham in 1697, and later confirmed by fresh 
patent from William Penn, the final one bearing date Elev- 
enth month (November) 29th, 171 1, the objects of the cor- 
poration being stated in the following preamble : 

' ' Whereas the prosperity and welfare of any people depend 
in great measure upon the good education of youth and their 
early introduction into the principles of true religion and 
virtue, and qualifying them to serve their country and them- 
selves, by breeding them in reading, writing, and learning 
of languages and use fid arts and science, suitable to their age, 
sex, and degree which cannot be effected in any manner so 
well, as by erecting public schools for the purposes afore- 
said." 

This is the foundation and origin of The Penn Charter 
School now located on Twelfth Street near Market, Phila- 
delphia, which has been in successful operation from that 
time to the present. 

"George Keith, formerly of Aberdeen, Scotland, was the 
first teacher of this School, who at the end of a year was 
followed by Thomas Makin, who is described as having been 
a good " L,atinist." Several schools have been maintained 
and are still in operation under the provisions of this origi- 
nal charter." History of West Town Boardifig School, Ed. 
of 1884, p. 12. 



i6 

The precepts, teaching and work of William Penn and his 
followers and contemporaries in the direction of public 
education thus had their effect during the provincial and 
colonial period of our State's History, forming a healthy- 
public sentiment on that subject, which was in full operation 
when in the year 1723 Benjamin Franklin, at the age of 
seventeen became a resident of Philadelphia. His practical 
character, his strong common sense and natural strength of 
mind found in that community a congenial home, a people 
with whom he could work with hearty good-will and by 
whom, the force of his character and abilities in all useful 
directions, was soon felt and fully recognized. If asked to 
name the men who above and beyond all others, by the 
weight of their character, the wisdom of their counsel and 
the excellence of their work, accomplished the most successful 
results in the cause of public education in Pennsylvania, the 
community of the present day, guided in the expression of 
its opinion by the weight of historical authority, would with 
entire unanimity say, William Penn in the provincial or col- 
onial period, and Benjamin Franklin in the revolutionary 
period of the State's History. 

The effect of these sentiments and the influence of these 
early colonists of Pennsylvania on the subject of public 
education are seen in the provision made in the original and 
temporary Constitution framed for the State of Pennsylvania 
in the year 1776, soon after the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was proclaimed, in the following language : 

' ' A school or schools shall be established in each county 
for the convenient instruction of youth with such salaries to 



17 

the masters paid by the public, as may enable them to instruct 
youth at low prices ; and all useful learning shall be duly 
encouraged and promoted in one or more Universities." 

And by Act of Assembly of April 7th, 1786, passed soon 

after the successful close of the Revolutionarj^ war, it was 

enacted : 

" That sixty thousand acres of land, part of the unappro- 
priated lands belonging to the State, be and they are hereby 
reserved and appropriated for the sole and express purpose 
of ejidowing public schools in the different counties of this 
State agreeably to the said fourty-fourth section of the 
Constitution." 

The constitutional convention of 1789-90 also made the 

following provision : 

"The legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be, 
provide by law for the establishment of schools through- 
out the State, in such manner that the poor may be tajight 
gratis. ' ' 

This article was also incorporated into the Constitution 
of 1838 and continued to be the only constitutional pro- 
vision on the subject of education until 1874. 

As early as 1794 a legislative committee made a report 
on this subject outlining a plan which was a near approach 
to the subsequent free school system of the state. The 
successive Governors of Pennsylvania, McKean, Snyder, 
Findlay, Heister and Shulze all urged the importance of 
free public education upon the legislatures, which resulted 
in some legislation upon that subject in 1803, 1804, 1809 and 
1818, which went so far only as to provide for the payment 
of the education of the children of the poor in the then exis- 
ting, ordinary private schools. As early as 18 10, Nicholas 



Biddle, a man of rare intellectual powers and a member of 
the lyCgislature at the early age of twenty-four, whose chief 
historical distinction arose from his presidency of the United 
States Bank for eighteen years, who was, however, as great 
in statesmanship and scholarship as he was in finance, intro- 
duced and advocated a bill for general free education which 
was the basis of the subsequent legislation of 1834. It was 
not, however, until the latter year, viz., 1834, that under the 
active efforts of such friends of education as Governor Wolf, 
Senators Joseph B. Anthony and N. B. Fetterman, and also 
Nicholas Biddle, Robert Vaux, Joseph R. Chandler, Dr. 
George Smith, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Mathias, Joseph 
G. Clarkson, William Martin, Samuel Breck, Charles B. 
Penrose, James Thompson, John Wiegand, Thomas H. 
Burroughs, Dr. Wilmer Worthington and other eminent 
Pennsylvanians, many of them members of the Legislature, 
the law entitled ' ' An Act to establish a general system of 
education by common school " was passed. 

It is interesting to note that the legislative committee, 
charged with the duty of inquiring into and reporting on 
that subject, also give attention to manual labor education 
by reporting in favor of that system, saying among other 
things. 

" First. — That the expense of education, when connected 
with manual labor judiciously directed, may be reduced at 
least one -half. 

Second. — That the exercise of about three hours manual 
labor daily, contributes to the health and cheerfulness of the 
pupil,* by strengthening and improving his physical powers, 
and by engaging his mind in useful pursuits. 



19 

Third. — That so far from manual labor being an impedi- 
ment to the progress of the pupil in intellectual studies, it 
has been found in proportion as one pupil excelled another 
in the amount of labor performed, the same pupil has 
excelled the other, in equal ratio, in his intellectual studies. 

Fourth. — That manual labor institutions tend to break 
down the distinctions between rich and poor which exist in 
society, inasmuch as they give an almost equal opportunity 
of education to the poor by labor, as is afforded to the rich 
by the possession of wealth. 

Fifth. — That pupils trained in this way are much better 
fitted for active life, and better qualified to act as useful 
citizens, than when educated in any other mode, — that they 
are better as regards physical energy, and better intellectually 
and morally." 

From the above citations it will be seen that schools for 
the mental (as distinguished from the mechanical) education 
of the youth of both sexes, as well in the ordinary as in the 
advanced branches of learning, have existed and flourished 
in this State since the days of the early colonists, contribut- 
ing largely to the formation of the character of its people 
and the development of its natural resources. It is however, 
only recently that the iiidustrial education of the youth of 
our land has become a subject of serious thought and prac- 
tical application. It has been forced upon the attention of 
observing and reflecting persons, who have realized that 
several causes have contributed to the decadence of the 
American apprenticeship system, prominent among which 
may be mentioned, First — the enormous expansion during 
the past thirty years of every kind of mechanical enterprise 
and the consequent enrichment of the proprietors : — the 
master ceased to be the shop companion of the appren- 
tice, and no longer taught him by his example, or imparted 



20 

to him the traditions and rules of his art. The master found 
his services to be of much greater value in the office than in 
the shop and the relation of apprenticeship was neglected . 

Secondly — the automatic power tool was introduced to 
replace many of the slow, hand processes which gave employ- 
ment to the skilled mechanic . It was believed by many that 
this machinery would supplant him altogether and that 
inferior labor only was needed for the workshop, also by 
others that skilled mechanics were only required as foremen 
and fitters up of the finished output of the shop. 

Many manufacturers have found it more profitable to teach 
men certain'parts of the trade, knowing that by this method 
the operator would more certainly remain in his employ, as 
he would not be sufficiently learned in the trade to obtain 
work elsewhere, unless at an establishment engaged in the 
same line of work. It was also ascertained that skilled 
mechanics soon became tired of one kind of labor and if 
compelled to continue at it, would seek other employment 
less monotonous. 

One of the earliest steps in this country in the direction 
of manual training was taken at the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis in 1868, and the instruction of the officers of our 
Navy in the use of mechanic's tools has steadily grown in 
importance to the present time. 

The Russian Manual school exhibit at the Centennial 
Exhibition did much towards popularizing thought on the 
subject, and public attention and interest in it have been 
growing steadily ever since. 



21 



The St. Louis University, the Boston Institute of Tech- 
nology and Cornell University were the first institutions to 
add mechanical laboratories to their equipments, and thus 
prepare for this new and important feature in education. 

The Worcester Institute, Worcester, Mass., was soon after 
started, and the Spring Garden Institute, Philadelphia, was 
the fourth manual training school of size to be inaugurated 
in the country. 

Girard College and the Chicago Manual Training School, 
followed soon afterwards. 

In 1885 Philadelphia added the Manual Training School 
to its public schools, and enjoys the distinction of being the 
first city in the world to make that branch a part of the 
system of free public education. 

In the same year the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor added mechanical shops and training to its equipment 
and curriculum, and now ranks high as a manual training 
school. 

The Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, N. Y. founded in 1886 
has well furnished departments for various mechanical 
trades . 

San Francisco has perhaps the finest and best equipped 
manual training schools in the world, and the University of 
Pennsylvania has a complete manual training department for 
her mechanical engineering students, started in 1889. 

By the generosity of Dr. Zenas Barnuni of Baltimore, 
Md., in his bequest of $80,000 for that purpose, there has 
been recently added to The McDonough School near that 



22 

city a department for instruction and practice in manual 
training, limited at present to wood working. 

The Toledo Manual Training School of Toledo, Ohio, is 
also a well equipped institution with eleven shops or labora- 
tories, and three hundred and eighty pupils who do their 
Academic work in the Public High School to which the 
Manual Training School is attached as an annex. 

The Drexel Institute now almost completed, will be one 
of the leading Institutes of the World for the training of 
the hand in harmony with the development of the intellec- 
tual faculties. 

Fortunate indeed is our country in the establishment of 
manual training in every section of its broad dominion, and 
no city is more favored in this respect than our own Phila- 
delphia. 

A step further and we reach the Trade Schools. 

In Albemarle Co., Virginia, there is the Miller Manual 
Labor School endowed by the will of Samuel Miller, which 
started with an invested fund of over one million of dollars, 
and under the able charge of Captain Vawter is doing a 
wonderfully good work for that section of our land, limited 
in its admission of pupils, however, to the residents of that 
county. 

The New York Trade School founded, developed and 
maintained by the intelligent and comprehensive thought 
and generosity of Col. Richard T. Auchmuty, is conferring 
vast benefits on its scholars, who come from all parts of our 
Union, and thus spread the effects of its good works all over 
the Continent. 



23 

The Master Builder's Trade School of Philadelphia estab- 
lished on a broad basis and wisely conducted, has entered 
upon a career of wide usefulness. 

And now we have this The Williamson Free School of 
Mechanical Trades, different in some respects from any other 
trade school previously established, and designed, as far as 
a school can be, to take the place of the old fashioned ap- 
prenticeship when the master and the learner were in close 
contact, but based we think on broader, more intelligent and 
more comprehensive ideas as to the proper manner of teach- 
ing boys the art and mystery of various mechanical trades 
and in the hope of reaching more practical results. 

The New York Trade School of Col. Auchmuty, the 
Master Builders' Trade School of Phila. and The Williamson 
Free School of Mechanical Trades are all steps in advance 
of the Manual Training Schools inasmuch as they teach the 
bo}^ his trade complete in addition to the sleight of hand 
taught at the other institutions. 

Many persons thought it impracticable to teach a trade 
complete at a school until Colonel Auchmuty proved that 
it could be done. 

The germ of the idea which has taken visible expression 
in The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades may 
be found in the memorable letter of William Penn , addressed 
to his wife and children on the eve of his departure from 
England in 1682, to make his first visit to his colony. A 
letter so valuable for its wisdom, so touching in its pathos, 



24 

so beautiful in its simplicity, so full of tender affection and 

solicitude for the temporal and spiritual welfare of those 

near and dear to him, to make it worthy of an honored place 

in the library of this or any other school. In regard to the 

education of his children he says : 

"For their learning be liberal. Spare no cost; for by 
such parsimony all that is saved is lost, but let it be useful 
knowledge, (such as is consistent with truth and godliness, 
not cherishing a vain conversation or idle mind) but in- 
genuity mixed with industry is good for the body and mind 
too. I recommend the useful parts of mathematics and 
building houses or ships, measuring, surveying, dialing, 
navigation, but agriculture is especially in my eye. L^et my 
children be husbandmen and housewives ; industrious, 
healthy, honest and of good example, (like Abraham and 
the holy ancients, who pleased God and obtained a good re- 
port.) This leads to consider the works of God and nature, 
things that are good, and diverts the mind from being taken 
up with the vain arts and inventions of a luxurious world. 
It is commendable in the Princes of Germany and the Nobles 
of that Empire that they have all their children instructed by 
some useful occupation ' ' (intimating that in certain contin- 
gences a trade was a better thing as a steady reliance than a 
throne.) " Be sure to observ^e their genius and do not cross 
it as to learning ; let them not dwell too long on one thing, 
but let their change be agreeable and all their diversions have 
some little bodily labor in them." 

And in a communication of a later date quoted by Proud 

in his History of Pennsjdvania, Wm. Penn says : 

"Upon the whole matter I undertake to say that if we 
would preserve our government we must endear it to the 
people. To do this, beside the necessity of presenting just 
and wise views ive must seciire the youth ; this is not to be done 
but by the amendment of the way of education, and that 
with all eminent speed and diligence. I say the government 
is highly obliged : it is a sort of Trustee for the youth of the 
kingdom, who though minors j^et, will have the government 
when we are gone. Therefore depress vice and cherish 
virtue, that through good education they, may become good 
which will truly render them happiness in this world and a 



25 

great way fitted for that which is to come. If this is done 
they will owe more to your memories for their education than 
for their estates. ' ' 

As an illustration of the saying that good may sometimes 
be evolved from evil it is due to truth to say that The 
Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, the opening 
of which we here and now celebrate^, is the direct outcome 
and result of the discontinuance of the apprenticeship system 
of labor in many trades. It was the knowledge of this fact, 
operating upon the practical common sense and the benevo- 
lent heart of I. V. Williamson, that induced him to devote 
so large a portion of his well-earned fortune to the erection 
and endowment of this School for the intelligent and prac- 
tical education of the youth of our land in useful trades. 

In many conversations with the speaker on this occasion, 
while formulating his plans and discussing the provisions of 
his contemplated deed of trust, he was very emphatic in his- 
recognition of this condition as one of the evils of modern 
society, and equally so in the expression of his sense of dut5r 
to do what was in his power to correct this injustice to the 
youth of our land. In his Endowment Deed of Trust, 
dated December First, A.D. 1888, he states his motives and. 
intentions, and among others makes the following recitals. 

' ' Whereas, The subject of the proper training and educa- 
tion of youth to habits of industry and economy, and the 
importance of their learning trades, so that they may be able 
to earn their living by the labor of their hands, has for a 
long time received my careful attention ; 

And Whereas, I am convinced that the abandonment or 
disuse of the good old custom of apprenticeship to trades 
has resulted in many young men growing up in idleness. 



26 

^which leads to vice and crime and is fraught with great 
danger to society ; 

And Whereas, I am impressed with the belief that in 
many worthy institutions founded for the free education of 
the young, and sometimes even in the public schools, the 
system and course of education, and the associations and 
surroundings connected therewith, often unfit a young man 
for a life of manual labor, and induce a false belief in his 
mind that to labor with his hands is not respectable — and for 
this reason professional and mercantile pursuits are over- 
crowded with incompetent candidates who meet with failure 
— and thus many who, if they had been differently trained 
in early life, could have supported themselves at some trade 
in comfort and decency, are condemned to idleness and often 
to dissipation, beggary and crime ; 

And Whereas, For nearly thirty years I have carefully 
considered this subject, with the intention at the proper time 
of founding and endowing a free institution, to be located in 
the Cit}'- of Philadelphia or its vicinity, where, subject to the 
control of proper managers and under the direction and 
supervision of skillful and expert instructors, poor and 
deserving boys could be gratuitously instructed in the rudi- 
ments of a good English education and what is of equal, if 
not greater, importance, trained to habits of industry and 
economy and taught such mechanical trades or handicrafts 
as may be suited to their several capacities, so that when 
they arrive at manhood they may be able to support them- 
■selves decently by the labor of their own hands and become 
useful and respectable members of society ; as I am well con- 
vinced that in this country any able-bodied young man of 
industrious and economical habits who has learned a good 
mechanical trade can not only earn a good living and acquire 
an independence, but also become a useful and respected 
■citizen ; 

And Whereas, The time has now arrived at which I can 
put my long-cherished intention into effect, and devote and 
-dedicate to the object a sufficent fund out of means which 
have been saved and accumulated for the purpose ; 

Now, Know all Men by these Presents, That I, 
Isaiah V. Williamson, of the City of Philadelphia, merchant, 
in order to carry out the object I so long have had in view, 
in the hope of supplying a long-felt want in the community, 
and with the intention and design of founding and endowing 



27 

in perpetuity an institution to be known as ' ' The William- 
son Free School of Mechanical Trades," and hereinafter 
designated as the School, do hereby make, constitute, and 
appoint my friends John Baird, James C. Brooks, Lemuel 
Coffin, Edward L,ongstreth, William C. Ludwig, Henry C. 
Townsend and John Wanamaker, all of the City of Phila- 
delphia, and their successors in the trust appointed or 
created as hereinafter directed, the Trustees to hold the title 
to, erect, equip, maintain, direct and manage the school 
upon, under, and subject to the trusts, confidences, and 
conditions hereinafter declared of and concerning the same, 
which said Trustees, and their successors in the trust, shall 
be known as the Trustees of the Williamson Free School of 
Mechanical Trades, and are in this deed hereafter designated 
the Trustees, and whose names I have hereinabove inserted 
in alphabetical order so as to remove any impression of 
preference on my part for either or any, which might other- 
wise be drawn from the order in which they have been named. 
" I leave to the judgment and discretion of the Trustees 
the character, number and extent of the said buildings to be 
erected, but as the great object to be attained is to board, 
lodge, clothe, and instruct in mechanical trades those who, 
when arrived at manhood, will be obliged to labor with their 
hands for their support, I particularly direct that all palatial 
structures, expensive materials, and elaborate ornamentation 
or decorations shall be avoided, so that the scholars may not 
by reason of luxurious or expensive accommodations and 
surroundings acquire tastes or habits which may unfit them 
for their trades in the sphere of life in which their lots are 
to be cast." 

While leaving to the discretion of the Trustees the whole 

subject of the studies to be taught, he says : 

' ' I request that they shall at all times bear in mind the 
fact that the main object I have in view is to train young 
men to mechanical trades, so that they may earn their own 
living, and that while the acquisition of any branch of an 
English education which may be of aid to them in their 
several trades is necessary and important, any higher or 
advanced knowledge, which might render them dissatisfied 
with or unfit for their employments, is unnecessary^ and may 
be disadvantageous . I expressly direct that each and every 
scholar shall be compelled to learn and be thoroughly in- 



28 

structed in one good mechanical trade, so that when they 
leave the school on the completion of their indentures they 
may be able to support themselves by the labor of their 
own hands. I leave to the discretion of the Trustees the 
selection of the several kinds of mechanical trades to be 
taught, and the determination of the particular one that 
shall be taught to and acquired by each scholar but I parti- 
cularly desire that the taste, capacity, intelligence, and 
adaptability of each scholar be ascertained and considered 
before assigning him to any particular trade." 

' ' I desire and direct that the moral and religious training 
of the scholars shall be properly looked after and cared for 
by the Trustees, but that there shall be no attempt by the 
Trustees at proselytism among the scholars, and no favoritism 
shown by the Trustees to an 3^ particular sect or creed. I 
especially direct that each scholar shall be taught to speak 
the truth at all times, and I particularly direct and charge 
as an imperative duty upon the Trustees that each and every 
scholar shall be thoroughly trained to habits of frugality, 
econom}^ and industry, as above all others the one great 
lesson which I desire to have impressed upon every scholar 
and inmate of the School, is that in this country every able- 
bodied, healthy young man who has learned a good mechan- 
ical trade, and is truthful, honest, frugal, temperate, and in- 
dustrious, is certain to succeed in life, and to become a use- 
ful and respected member of society." 

' ' I desire and direct that the physical training of the 
scholars shall be carefully attended to, that they shall have 
proper exercise and recreation , so that so far as such a result 
can be brought about by training and care, each one may 
grow up with a sound mind in a strong body." 

The par value of the securities transferred by the deed, 
composed entirely of stocks of various corporations, was 
$1,596,000 having an appraised value at the then market 
price, of $2,119,25 and producing at that time an income 
approximating $100,000. 

In view of the recent decision of the Court of Appeals of 
the State of New York, declaring void and inoperative, the 
will of Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, by which he attempted to 
give several millions of dollars for the erection and endow- 



29 

ment of a free public library, the wisdom of Mr. Williamson 
in founding his Free School of Mechanical Trades in his 
life time and thus avoiding the perils of hostile litigation, 
cannot be too highly recommended as an example worthy of 
imitation by all contemplating similar objects. 

Soon after the delivery of this deed Mr. Williamson 
addressed to each of the Trustees a letter so characteristic of 
the man, so indicative of the active interest he felt in this 
work that it is here given at full length : 

Philadelphia, December 13th, 1888. 

To Messrs. John Baird, James C. Brooks, Lemuel 
Coffin, Edward L,ongstreth, William C. L,udwig, 
Henry C. Townsend and John Wanamaker, Trus- 
tees. 

Gentlemen : — I send you herewith a number of applica- 
tions for the sale of lands, and several pamphlets and other 
documents, relating to industrial schools and institutions, 
which have from time to time been sent to me, and all of 
which I now refer to you. 

I have also thought it proper and fitting that, at the 
beginning of the undertaking, I should bring to your atten- 
tion m}^ own views about the details of the establishment 
and the management of the School, and submit for your 
consideration, some suggestions of my own, which have 
been the result of patient and careful consideration of the 
subject which is now committed to your hands. The first 
point of importance is the selection and purchase of the 
land. My own judgment is in favor of some site on the 
upper Neshaminy, in the vicinity of lyanghorne or New- 
town , as I am impressed with the healthfulness of the loca- 
tion, and I have some natural inclination in favor of my 
native County of Bucks. Some farm property on . the 
Neshaminy, near the crossing of the Bound Brook Branch 
of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, has been offered to me 



30 

by a Mr. Wildman, with whom I am now in correspondence, 
and some other lands near Newtown have recently been 
brought to my attention by Mr. John M. Stapler. I should 
be glad if you would visit both properties with me, in order 
to see whether in your opinion , either of them is suitable for 
the purpose, and can be purchased at a reasonable price. 

Until the question of the purchase of land is decided, it 
seems to me that it would be well to defer taking any action 
upon plans or buildings. Otherwise, you may be run down 
and wearied by applications from architects and contractors 
before you have had time to consider the question of the 
character and extent of the buildings that may be required. 

Upon this subject of buildings and the resulting one of 
the proper method of lodging, boarding and managing boys, 
I am decidedly in favor of what is called " Home lyife," as 
distinguished from that of one large Institution ; and, from 
all I have read and reflected upon the subject, I think the 
advantages of the former system are as follows : — 

1 . The boys will be under better moral control by being 
inmates of small homes and having the advantages of home 
life. 

2. It avoids the necessity of large structures, and the 
consequent temptation to erect imposing buildings and make 
an architectural display. 

3. It enables you to feel your way, and to provide from 
time to time, only such buildings as can readily be filled by 
scholars ; whereas, if the other plan of one large institute is 
adopted, there might be a much larger expenditure made 
than would actually be required for those who apply for 
admission . 

If you agree with me in these views, I would suggest that 
upon purchasing a site, the farm buildings upon the place, 
if there are any, should at once be utilized by taking in as 
many boys as they will accommodate, and such boys could at 
once be assigned to learn the trade of mason, carpenter, 
bricklayer, or other similar occupation, and be occupied in 
the erecting of new buildings and the preparation and culti- 
vation of the ground. If there should be a quarry on the 
land, and a deposit of good clay, contracts could at once be 
made for quarrying building stone by the perch, and making 
bricks per thousand ; and, with the materials thus ready to 
hand, additional small houses could from time to time be 
built and occupied, when completed, with new boys. Each 



31 

house when completed could be placed under the charge of 
some experienced mechanic to be employed as an instructor, 
and with whose family the boys could be boarders, and thus 
the daily and domestic lives of the boys would be under the 
influence of a frugal and industrious mechanic's home, and 
be somewhat similar to that which formerly existed when, 
apprentices to trades were inmates of their master's family. 

It would, of course, be necessary at some time to erect 
some central and convenient building for common school 
purposes for the younger scholars, and also probably some 
large room or hall for religious and other instructions by 
lectures, etc., but my own judgment is that such a building 
should not be commenced until it is demonstrated that the 
school will be a success, and until the number of inmates is 
sufficient to justify the expenditure. In the meantime, it 
may probably be found that some farm house or other farm 
buildings, with slight alterations and repairs, would answer 
the purpose for some years, during which the unexpended 
Building Fund would be increasing at compound interest, 
and, in a few years, furnish out of its accretions a new fund 
sufficient for the central buildings. 

I am inclined to think that it would be better to locate the 
School near to some thriving or growing country town or 
village, containing churches of different denominations, 
which the boys could attend. Thus each boy could worship 
at the church and receive religious instruction from the 
denomination in which he had been brought up, and the 
occasional mingling with the outer world will be of service 
to the boys. 

I have prepared this letter with no intention of controlling 
your own judgments upon the various matters touched 
upon ; but, as I have devoted a great deal of time to the 
consideration of the questions, and feel a deep interest in 
the success of the undertaking, I have thought it best to give 
you my own views upon these matters, which, by the 
Foundation Deed, I have left entirely to your own discretion.. 
Very respectfully, 

[signed] I. V. WII.LIAMSON. 



32 

Soon after its appointment the Board organized by the 
election of John Baird as Chairman, James C. Brooks as 
Treasurer, and Alfred Helmbold as Secretary, and on January 
4th, 1889, John M. Shrigley as Assistant Secretary, and June 
ist, 1889, as General Manager and Secretary, followed at a 
later date November 2d, 1889, by the election of Robert 
Crawford as Superintendent, and on June 6th, 1890, John 
M. Shrigley was elected President of the School. 

In the selection of these two gentlemen for the important 
•executive positions which represent the actual working of 
the School, the Trustees have realized that they have been 
most fortunate . Both are especially well qualified by tempera- 
ment, experience and knowledge for their respective posi- 
tions, and both have displayed the greatest possible zeal, 
fidelity, and ability in their work. 

One of the first and most important duties imposed upon 
"the Trustees was the selection of a proper site for the build- 
ings. Guided by the limitations of the Foundation Deed 
as to area, locality and cost they visited several farms to 
which their attention was called by persons desirous of 
selling and always accompanied by I. V. Williamson, who 
as long as he lived attended their meetings and manifested a 
livel}^ interest not only in the selection of a site but in all 
other plans and projects that claimed attention, and finally 
after a careful consideration of all the features attending the 
different sites visited, they concluded that the land on the 
line of the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad, in 
Middletown Township, Delaware County, between Elwyn 



33 
and Glen Riddle stations, about sixteen miles from Phila- 
delphia, was in all respects the most suitable for the purposes 
in view. 

After a brief negotiation they secured the title to four 
tracts of land embracing an area of about 200 acres, the 
lowest part adjoining the railroad having an elevation of 
220 feet, and the summit selected as the site for the buildings, 
having an elevation of 310 feet above tide water of the 
Delaware, commanding an extensive view of the surround- 
ing country, absolutely free from malaria or other unhealthy 
influences and having within its borders an abundant supply 
of pure spring water, and good building stone. The selec- 
tion of this site was approved by I. V. Williamson, who was 
able to visit it but a few days before his last illness, and 
expressed in warm terms not only his satisfaction, but 
pleasure in the choice ; and this approval was the last 
business act of his life. 

On the seventeenth day of May, 1889, the purchase was 
completed by the conveyance of the land to the Trustees 
for the consideration of $46,489.80. 

The next important subject claiming their attention was 
the consideration and adoption of plans for the buildings. 
For these, proposals were invited from five of the leading 
architects of Philadelphia with equal compensation to all for 
their work whether accepted or not, and after a thorough 
examination of all that were offered, those submitted by 
Furness, Evans & Co. were adopted. 

Ground was broken on the first day of IMa}^ 1890, the 
corner stone was laid on the eighth da}^ of November, 1890, 



34 
and under the direction of the competent and experienced 
architects, assisted by the almost daily watchful and skilled 
superintendence of President Shrigley and Superintendent 
Crawford, whose services in this respect have been invaluable, 
the work of erecting the buildings consisting of the large 
Administration building with a capacity (in its executive 
department such as recitation rooms, auditorium, dining 
hall, &c., for three hundred boys, seventy of whom are now 
here), the boiler and laundry house, work shop No. i and 
Superintendent's residence proceeded with all the rapidity 
consistent with good workmanship and safe results, until 
their final finish read}^ for occupanc}^ on the twentieth day 
of October, inst. and you are now here to examine and we 
trust to approve of their adaptation to the uses for which 
they are designed. 

The expenditure for lands, buildings, improvements of all 
kinds and furniture up to this time has been $237,600, while 
the income from both the endowment and building funds has 
been $295,500. 

The rooms in the main building now occupied as dormi- 
tories will, when the cottages are finished, be used for 
draughting, library and museum purposes. 

Of the seven trustees named by I. V. Williamson in his 
foundation deed, one of their number, William C. L,udwig, 
died on September 2d, 1889, honored, beloved and respected 
by all who knew him, and Col. Charles H. Banes, was on 
October 5th, 1889, elected to fill the vacancy. 

Another original Trustee, John Baird, resigned on Febru- 
ary 28th, 1890, and John H. Catherwood, on May loth, 1890, 



35 
was elected to fill the vacanc}', and Col. Charles H. Banes 
resigned on September nth, 1890, and Samuel B. Huey was 
on December 12th, 1890, elected to fill that vacancy. 

They have after careftil consideration, and in conformity 
with Mr. Williamson's wishes in that respect deemed it best 
to adopt in the management of the School, as near as is 
possible, the home rather than the institutional life for its 
scholars. Their plan contemplates separate and distinct 
cottages, each with a capacity for twenty-four boj^s, with 
heads for each familj^ in the nature of father and mother. 
With this idea in view they have commenced three cottages 
near the Main Building which they expect to have finished 
by April ist next, when forty-eight more boys can be 
admitted, and thej^ propose to continue the erection of addi- 
tional cottages as rapidlj^ as their means will permit. 

The Trustees desire to saj^ thus publicl}" while fully realiz- 
ing the magnitude and importance of their work and anxious 
to discharge it to the best of their ability and desirous of 
avoiding all mistakes, they have from the start felt some- 
what embarrassed by the fact, that they were obliged to act 
without the benefit of the experience of any similar school. 
So far as they have been able to discover, there nowhere 
exists a mechanical trade school working in the exact lines 
prescribed in the Foundation Deed of Mr. Williamson, 
which must necessarih^ control their action. While he is 
liberal in giving them a very wide discretion, his views and 
wishes in many respects outside of the provisions of the deed, 
have been expressed verbally to them and they feel obliged 



36 

to conform to them so far as is possible. They have 
naturally felt that much of their work must be tentative and 
experimental, that they must act upon that knowledge which 
comes only from actual experience. They have so far 
worked and will continue to do, so with the single purpose 
of achieving practical results. In the language of Abraham 
Lincoln, in his memorable letter to Horace Greely written 
in reply to some impatient public criticisms by the latter as 
to his dilatory action in the conduct of the war, " We will 
try to correct errors when shown to be errors and will adapt 
new views as soon as they shall appear to be true views . ' ' 
Hence they have not deemed it wise to prescribe in advance 
the actual trades among the many mentioned in the deed 
which shall be taught to the exclusion of others. Much in 
this direction must be left to the future, to the results of 
experience and to the natural tastes of the pupils, assisted 
by the judgment of the President, Superintendent and 
instructors. 

They have, however, after much careful consideration of 
that subject, determined that the lowest limit as to age of 
admission shall be fifteen years, as they believe that a better 
mechanic can be turned out after three years ' education begun 
at that or a later age, than after a longer apprenticeship 
begun at an earlier age, when a boy is too young to under- 
stand his duties, opportunities and responsibilities, and they 
will also be thereby enabled firom the limited income to 
give a larger number of boys the advantages of the School. 

They believe that the educated mechanic must necessarily 
be a more efficient force in the world's workshop than the 



• 37 
ignorant — that the training of the mind, the eye and the 
hand should go on together — that manual training directed 
by intelligence produces a greater result at less cost — and that 
every tool wielded by a hand which is guided and controlled 
by a cultivated mind, must necessarily work more efficiently 
and would seem almost to acquire in its movement and action 
some of that intelligence by which it is directed. 

They can only add that their earnest efforts will, in the 
future as they have been in the past, be directed to securing 
in the best manner and by the most approved methods, the 
object so near the heart of the benevolent founder of this 
Institute, viz. : the intelligent education of boys into skilled 
practical mechanics who, when they leave this school with 
its certificate of proficiency, will be able in his own words, 
' ' not only to earn a good living and acquire an independ- 
ence, but also become useful and respected citizens." 

Of Isaiah Vansant Williamson, the speaker on this 
occasion who knew him for forty years, felt it a duty a few 
years before his decease, in order to correct some public mis- 
representations made in a daily paper, to publish the following 
communication : 

JUSTICE TO A GOOD CITIZEN. 

Editor of the Evening BuIvLETin. Sir: — The taste 
which prompts the enterprising newspaper writer to spread 
before the public the habits of daily life, the peculiarities of dis- 
position, the personal appearance and the pecuniary affairs of 
the private citizen is very questionable, even when the state. 



38 
ments are correct, but when, from ignorance or a desire to 
amuse, misrepresentations are made, the practice is reprehen- 
sible. The article from the pen of "Bystander," in the 
Daily Nezvs of October 3d, relating to the venerable I. V. 
Williamson, while correct in many respects and well meant, 
contains some errors and is not in tone respectful towards 
one of Philadelphia's most generous and at the same time 
modest citizens. A just and accurate sketch of the character 
of such a man as Mr. Williamson, who is a conspicuous 
example of great business success combined with personal 
worth and becoming modesty, might be of value in stimu- 
lating others to imitate his example in the judicious use of 
wealth, acquired by industrj'-, intelligence, integrity and self- 
denial. Any one desiring accuracy could have ascertained 
the truth in relation to^Williamson from any of his numerous 
friends associated wdth him in many important business 
enterprises. They know him as a warm-hearted and genial 
friend, a liberal and judicious dispenser of his means, 
modest, quiet and unassuming in manner, and extremely 
averse to any public mention of his name in connection with 
his charities. His habits of domestic life and methods of 
distributing his bounty, while not peculiar, are exclusively 
his own affair and riot properly the subject of public notice. 
While his benefactions have been liberal in amount, they 
are characterized by good judgment and a broad and 
comprehensive spirit of sympathy with educational progress 
and the relief of suffering humanity in all its forms, free 
from all sectarian bias. He does not lead the narrow and 



39 
meagre life implied in the article referred to, nor does he 
have " his habitation over a store in Bank Street," but lives 
modestly as a gentleman of his tastes and means should live, 
in a comfortable home in a central part of the city, where he 
is accessible to his few, but congenial, personal friends. 
Nor is it true as stated that he has no one to help him in his 
business affairs. Fortunately he is still vigorous in mind 
and body, and continues to exercise his habits of industry 
and method in the management of his business ; but he does 
employ a capable and competent assistant in some of its 
details. One who knows his modest and retiring disposition, 
his quiet and simple tastes, his liberal and judicious contri- 
butions, made in the most unobstrusive manner, to many 
deserving charities, feels that the correction of some of the 
errors in the article referred to, calculated to give a wrong 
impression of a worthy man, is only a simple act of Justice. 
(The above well -deserved tribute to a good citizen is sent 
without the knowledge of the respected gentleman to whom 
it refers, and is only published to correct a few probably 
inadvertent errors in a recent interesting sketch of Mr. 
Williamson in another paper.) — [Editor BuIvIvETin.] 

On a recent occasion complimentary to Dr. Edward Brooks 
upon his assuming the responsible position of Superintend- 
ent of public education in Philadelphia, Judge Fell gave 
expression to the following truthful sentiment : 

' ' Many of the aims and ambitions of life are mere delu- 
sions — much for which we labor and struggle is not worth the 
effort. 



40 

The truest estimate of the success of a human life is the 
measure of its benefit to others. 

No man's life has been successful if it has not been of 
honest usefulness and worth to his fellow-men." 

Applying this test to the record of the life of I. V. 
Williamson, we must all admit it was a success. 

He was born in Falsington, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 
February 3d, 1803. His parents were Mahlon Williamson 
and Charity Vansant, both descendants of a long line of 
ancestors connected with the religious society of Friends, 
and if it be true, as is believed by many, that the foundation 
of character in after life rests upon and grows out of the 
home life and surroundings of the young, it may be safely 
asserted that the principles taught and the examples furn- 
ished by those worthy parents, contributed largely to the 
formation of that character which he established in early 
manhood and maintained to the end — a character made up 
largely of self-denial, self-reliance, honesty, truthfulness, in- 
tegrity and industry. 

His earliest ancestor on the paternal side to emigrate to 
this country, and from whom he was the fifth in the line 
of descent, was Duncan Williamson, a Scotchman, who 
came here in or about the year 1 66 1 , some twenty years be- 
fore the landing of William Penn, as we find him recorded 
as a Juryman at the Upland Court (at Chester) in 1678, (the 
first Jury known to have been drawn in this county,) and he 
took up under patent from the Duke of York (from whom 
William Penn subsequently obtained his grant of the pro- 
vince,) one tract of about 100 acres of land on the east bank 



41 
of the Schuylkill river near its mouth and another tract of 
ICO acres (increased by subsequent purchases) on the South 
side of the Neshaminy in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, 
and extending to the Delaware river, about four miles south 
of the present city of Bristol, on which he established the 
ferrj" across the Delaware river to the site of the present city 
of Beverly, New Jersey, known down to a recent period as 
"Dunk's Ferry" named after him, as he was generally 
known as "Dunk" Williamson. 

In early life I. V. Williamson attended the local school of 
the district, which was only open during the winter months, 
and his school education was of course restricted to the 
limited opportunities then furnished. The quiet life on his 
father's farm soon became irksome and his inclinations early 
turned to mercantile pursuits, and at thirteen years of age 
he was behind the counter of Harvey Gillingham's store at 
Falsington, where he remained as a clerk until his majority, 
obtaining there that knowledge of business methods, the use 
of which was the foundation of his subsequent fortune. He 
formed at that earl}^ period of his life and practiced rigidly 
those habits of strict economy as to personal expenditure 
and the careful investment and re-investment of an)?^ surplus 
means, which continued throughout his long life. 

When he completed his apprenticeship, he went to Phila- 
delphia in the year 1825, and opened a retail dry goods store 
on Second near Pine Street, where he remained but a few 
months and then formed a partnership with William Burton 
and moved his place of business to Second Street and 



42 

Coombe's Alley, and at the end of one year this partnership 
was dissolved and he bought the store of John S. Newlin, 
No. 9 North Second Street, succeeding him in business and 
carrying it on alone assisted b^^ H. Nelson Burroughs as a 
clerk, who still survives an honored representative of that 
class of Philadelphia merchants who established its well 
earned and still maintained reputation for enterprise, integrity 
and fair dealing. Rigid economy practically applied was the 
order of the day in that period, and it was the habit of Mr. 
Williamson and his assistant in order to save cartage, to carry 
or with the aid of a wheel-barrow, to transport the goods 
bought at auction to the store. 

Mr. Williamson formed a partnership with Mr. Burroughs 
in 1834 which continued until January ist, 1837, when he 
finally retired from active business as a merchant, and the 
firm of Williamson , Burroughs & Clarlsftwas formed of which 
Mahlon Williamson, a younger brother was an active 
member, and I. V. Williamson was the special partner. 

The fortune which he had then accumulated amounted to 
about $200,000 and he had the reputation of being the richest 
young merchant in Philadelphia who had made his money 
by his own exertions. Soon after this time he visited 
Europe travelling at will through its various parts, including 
Russia, and remaining abroad about one year. Upon his 
return, he refused to live the life of the idler, and engaged 
actively in a variety of public enterprises, investing his 
means wisely and liberally in various directions of general 
usefulness and in the development of the natural resources 
of his State and Country. 



43 
His nature in financial operations was cautious and 
conservative — he .was an operator and investor rather 
than a speculator. He seldom or never bought with 
the sole object of making a sale with a profit, and in 
his operations he exercised a wise sagacity and careful 
prudence ; he would purchase stocks or bonds or real estate, 
at prices which his judgment, formed after careful considera- 
tion, led him to believe were low, and hold on to them until 
time and circumstances had increased their value. When 
he reached the age of about seventy, his fortune probably 
amounted to about $4,000,000 and at that period of his life, 
yielding to the impulses of his naturally kindl}^ and sympa- 
thetic nature, keenly alive and responsive to the claims of 
all forms of suffering humanity, and regarding himself as 
only a steward of the large fortune which he had acquired 
by a life of integrity, self-denial, industry and intelligent 
efforts, he began a system of wise, judicious and liberal dis- 
tribution of his means , giving in various directions and for a 
variety of purposes, in a broad and catholic spirit, both 
money and property, to hospitals, schools, homes and similar 
charitable and educational organizations. The aggregate of 
his donations during this period of his life from the age of 
seventy to eighty -six, while not known during his life time, 
was ascertained after his decease to have amounted to 
(including the endowment of this School) about $5,000,000, 
a sum believed to be larger than that ever given by any one 
individual in his life time in this country for benevolent 
purposes, — and after these liberal gifts, his estate amounted 



44 

at the time of his decease to about $10,000,000 of which 

about $1,000,000 was also given to various charitable 

purposes. 

His life was so correct and his habits so regular that he 

uniformly enjoyed good health. His physical activity was 

undiminished and his mental faculties unimpaired, almost to 

the last, his death being due rather to the debility attending 

old age than to any acute or well defined disease. I had the 

privilege of seeing him the day before he died when although 

physically feeble, his mind had all its original brightness. 

After expressing his pleasure with the action of the Trustees 

in the selection of the site for the School and saying he 

hoped to meet them in a day or two, he said with much 

earnestness : 

' ' Be sure to get from the Railroad Company all the rights 
and privileges you are entitled to for locating the School on 
the line of the road . ' ' 

This the last business act of his life was characteristic of 
the man. 

In a few hours he sank into unconsciousness from which 
he never rallied, and on the next day, March 7th, 1889, his 
long, honorable and useful life peacefully closed. 

The ceremony of the day would be incomplete without the 
expression of some thoughts more strictly applicable to you,- 
the boys composing this School for whose welfare in life its 
generous founder gave his means in so liberal measure, and 
which the Trustees selected by him for that purpose, have 
endeavored to put into practical form to the best of their 



45 
ability, for your comfort, improvement and benefit. If I. V. 
Williamson had in his many-sided nature, one characteristic 
that dominated all others, it was his industry, his love of 
labor. He worked indefatigably up to the last days of his 
long, useful and honorable life of eighty-six years, and I am 
speaking his sentiments when I say to you that labor, earn- 
est, persistent and continuous labor, in all its forms profes- 
sional, artistic, industrial, manual and even menial, whether 
in field or forum, in camp or court, in office or counting 
house, on the scaffold or at the work bench, on the highway 
or in the mine, is not onl}^ essential to success but when 
faithfully performed and for useful purposes, is in the sight 
of sensible people always respectable. The hod carrier 
honest, sober and industrious in his humble calling, clad in 
his rough attire, is a more attractive personage, a more use- 
ful member of societj^ more entitled to its favorable regard 
than the accomplished idler, the corrupt politician, the dis- 
honest speculator or the thieving bank wrecker who may 
wear more showy garments and display a more polished 
manner and a higher mental culture. 

That man who starting in life from obscure or unknown 
parentage and the hut of poverty as his birth-place, 
struggling against and overcoming difficulties and surmount- 
ing oppositions, finally attains distinction in any useful 
occupation, is deservedl}^ entitled to the respect of the 
community in which he lives and of which he forms an 
important part. The world's history shows that its greatest 
heroes and benefactors have been the self-made men, who 



46 

have fought their hard fight of success from poverty and 

obscurity to positions of usefulness and distinction. Where 

can be found a character more estimable in all that makes 

true greatness than that eminent son of toil, Abraham 

Lincoln, whose pure and noble life was so tragically ended 

before his great work of reconstructing the Union which he 

had saved was entered upon, and of whose coming and 

career, America's Poet-artist, T. Buchanan Read (another 

self-made man) prophesied in his greatest Poem ' ' The New 

Pastorifal , ' ' written and published years before the name of 

Abraham Lincoln was known outside of Springfield, in the 

following remarkable lines, the scene of which was laid in 

the then wilderness of Illinois : 

' ' Here the great statesman from the ranks of toil 
Shall rise, with judgment clear, as strong •attd as wise; 
And, with a well directed patriot blow. 
Re-clinch the rivets in our Union bands. 
Which tinkering knaves have striven to set ajar," 
and whom another American Poet, Lowell, describes as the 
" New birth of our new soil ; the first American." 

Or that poor printer's boy of Boston who made his way to 
the then village of Philadelphia and walked its streets with 
his bundle of clothes under one arm and a loaf of bread 
under the other, hunting a night's lodging and by hard, 
persistent work became the renowned scientist, statesman, 
patriot and philosopher, Benjamin Franklin. 

Samuel Smiles, an English writer of much experience, 
in his book called ' ' Self Help, ' ' after quoting from J. Stuart 
Mill the following sentiment, "The worth of a state in the 
long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it," and 



47 
from Schiller the following doctrine that ' ' the education of 
the human race consists in action, conduct, self-culture and 
self-control, all that disciplines a man and fits him for the 
proper performance of his duties and business of life," and 
from Bacon that "self-reliance and self-denial will teach a 
man to drink out of his own cistern and to eat his own sweet 
bread, and to learn and labor truly to get his living, and 
carefully to expend the good things committed to his trust ' ' 
says, "By labor the earth has been subdued and man 
redeemed from barbarism ; nor has a single step been made 
in civilization without it. L,abor is not only a necessity and 
a duty, but a blessing ; only the idler feels it to be a curse. 
The duty of work is written on the thews and muscles of 
the limbs, the mechanism of the hand, the nerves and lobes 
of the brain — the sum of whose healthy action is satisfac- 
tion and enjoyment. In the school of labor is taught the 
best practical wisdom ; nor is a life of manual employment 
incompatible with high mental culture," and cites many in- 
stances of men rising, by the force of their own efforts, from 
obscurity and poverty, to positions of great usefulness and 
distinction and among them the following ; ' ' From the bar- 
ber shop came Jeremy Taylor, the eminent preacher ; Sir 
Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the spinning Jenny ; 
lyOrd Tenterden, one of England's distinguished chief jus- 
tices, and Turner the greatest among modern landscape^ 
painters. 

Shakespeare, the greatest poetical genius the world has 



ever produced, sprang from an obscure origin, his father 
being a butcher and he a wool comber. 

John Milton was the son of a scrivener. 

From the lowest class of day laborers arose such men as 
Brindley the engineer ; Cook the Navigator and Burns the 
poet. 

From the trade of brick laying and masonry came Ben. 
Johnson, the author ; Edwards and Telford, the engineers; 
Hugh Miller, the geologist and Allen Cunningham, the poet 
and sculptor ; while from the carpenter's work bench sprang 
Inigo Jones, the architect ; Harrison, the chronometer maker; 
John Hunter, the ph^^siologist; Romney and Opiethe painters; 
Professor L,ee, the orientalist and John Gibson, the sculptor. 

The weavers have produced Simson, the mathematician; 
Bacon, the sculptor ; the two Milners, Adam Walker, John 
Foster, Jacquard, Wilson the ornithologist. Dr. I^ivingstone, 
the missionary traveller ; Joseph Brotherton and Fox dis- 
tinguished members of Parliament. 

Shoemakers have produced Admiral Sir Cloudesly Shovel ; 
Sturgeon, the electrician ; Samuel Drew, the essayist ; 
Gifford, the editor of ' ' The Quarterly Review ; ' ' Bloomfield, 
the Poet ; and Thomas Edwards, the naturalist. 

Tailors have been distinguished in the person of John Stow, 
the historian ; Sir John Hawkson, Admiral Hobson, and in 
one of our Presidents, Andrew Johnson. 

Cardinal Wolsey, DeFoe, Akenside and Kirk White, were 
sons of butchers, Bunyan was a tinker and Joseph lyancaster 
a basket maker, and Richard Cobden's start in life was 
equally obscure. 



49 

Among the greatest names identified with the invention 
of the steam engine were the mechanics Newcomen, a 
blacksmith ; Watt^, a maker of mathematical instruments, 
and Stephenson, an engine fireman. 

Herschel played in a militar}^ band, Chantrey was a wood 
car\^er, Sir Thomas Lawrence was the son of a tavern keeper, 
Sir Htimphre}^ Davy an apothecary's apprentice, and Michael 
Farada}^ the son of a blacksmith, was a book binder. 

Among those who have given the greatest impulse to the 
sublime science of astronomy we find Copernicus , the son of 
a Polish baker ; Kepler, the son of a German innkeeper and 
himself a waiter at the tables ; d'Alembert, a foundling ; 
Newton, the son of a farmer in a small way, and La Place, 
of a poor peasant. 

After citing these and other instances of men who have 

surmounted great difficulties and obstacles in achieving 

distinction the same author (Smiles) says : 

' ' In all these cases , strenuous individual application was 
the price paid for the distinction, excellence of any sort 
being invariably placed beyond the reach of indolence. It 
is the diligent hand and head alone that maketh rich in self 
culture, growth in wisdom and in business ; even when men 
are born to wealth and high social position, any solid reputa- 
tion which they may individually achieve can only be 
attained by energetic application, for though an inheritance 
of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge 
and wisdom cannot. The wealth}^ man may pay others for 
doing his work for him, but it is impossible to get his think- 
ing done for him by another or to purchase any kind of self 
culture." 

Citing as conspicmus instances of men whose lives al- 
though being under more favorable surroundings were dili- 



50 
gently and continuously devoted to hard work as essential 
to success, such names as Bacon, Worcester, Boyle, 
Cavandish , Talbot and Rosse in philosophy and science ; 
Sir Robert Peel, Brougham, Palmerston, Derby, Russell, 
D' Israeli and Gladstone as statesmen ; Scott, Dickens, 
Thackery and others in literature who were always too busy 
to think of observing any eight or ten hours laws for regulat- 
ing their labors, and concludes one of his chapters as follows : 

" In fine, human character is moulded by a thousand sub- 
tle influences ; by example and precept ; l3y life and litera- 
ture ; by friends and neighbors ; by the world we live in as 
well as by the spirits of our forefathers, whose legacy of 
good words and deeds we inherit. But great, unquestiona- 
bl}^ though these influences are acknowledged to be, it is 
nevertheless equally clear that men must necessarily be the 
active agents of their own well being and well doing ; and 
that however much the wise and the good rascj owe to 
others, thej^ themselves must in the sf^ry nature of things be 
their own best helpers." 

The above instances of distinguished self-made men, 
whose start in life was not equal to that now furnished to 
5^ou in this well equipped school, were and are of the En- 
glish or other foreign races, with whom the opportunities for 
achieving such distinction are less favorable than those pre- 
vailing in this free republic which has produced many such 
illustrious names. 

In addition to Franklin and Lincoln, of whom special 
mention has been made, the Revolutionary period of our 
history gave us Washington, -the surveyor; Greene, the 
blacksmith ; Putnam and Wayne (the farmer boj's) , in war ; 



51 
Robert Morris in finance ; the Adams', Patrick Henry, Otis, 
Hamilton, Madison, Jay and Jefferson in Statesmanship, and 
Charles Thompson, principal of a Friends' Academy, the 
patriot scholar of the Revolution, Secretary" of the American 
Congress for fifteen years, learned writer and author of one 
of the best translations of the Bible, known among the 
Indians as ' ' the man of truth, ' ' whom John Adams describes 
as ' ' the Sam Adams of Philadelphia , the life of the cause of 
the cauac of liberty ' ' (who was also a Friend or Quaker, in 
all except actual membership in the societ}"), and at a later 
period in its histor}^ such names as Albert Gallatin in 
finance, Daniel Webster and Henrj" Claj" in orator^'^ and 
statesmanship, and Andrew Jackson and Millard Fillmore 
(originally a mill operative) , and coming down to more recent 
times, such champions of freedom as Phillips and Garrison, 
lyOvejoy and Greel}^ Beecher and Sumner, Wilniot, Stevens, 
Kellej^Coriginall}'- a jeweler's apprentice) , and Garfield, (origi- 
nalh" a canal boatman), and in the war for the preserv^ation 
of the Union, such heroes and patriots as Grant, the soldier, 
statesman and patriot, who in a few short strides and solel}^ 
upon the strength of his own merit, passed from the tan j'-ard 
to the head of the largest and grandest army the world has 
ever seen, and bj" his braver>^, wisdom and fidelit}^ to duty, 
saved his countr}- from ruin, and of whom President Harri- 
son when recently standing in the room in which he died, 
at Mt. McGregor, said, in his apt and sententious phrase, 
' ' The life of a man so great as was General Grant does not 
o-ooiit, it goes 0)1,'' and his able Lieutenants, Sherman and 



52 

Sheridan, and Meade and Thomas, and Hancock and a host 
of others distinguished for bravery, skill and patriotism. 

In law and literature, such names as Marshall, Story, Kent 
and Sharswood, Carey, Bancroft, Cooper, Longfellow, Haw- 
thorne, Bayard Taylor, Whittier and Lowell ; and in 
science, mechanics, invention and useful industries, such 
names as Fulton and Fitch, Oliver Evans and Eli Whitney, 
Professors Henry, Morse, Barker and Leid}^ and Erickson, 
Edison, Baldwin, Howe and Hoe. And in the accumula- 
tion of large fortunes honestl}^ acquired by lives of patient 
industry and devoted to purposes of education, the relief of 
suffering humanitj^ in all its various forms and many chan- 
nels of practical benevolence, such honored names as Stephen 
Girard, I. V. Williamson, George Peabody, Johns Hopkins, 
Asa Packer and Peter Cooper, who have passed on to their 
reward, and such living examples of the same virtues as our 
own Anthony J. Drexel and George W. Childs, and Enoch 
Pratt and Jacob Tome, of our neighboring sister state of 
Marjdand. ^ 

You are born to a goodly heritage. You have come into 
this world when it has reached an age of wonderful activi- 
ties and marvellous material development in all directions ; 
not merely to play a part in its performances or to enjoy its 
pleasures, but to discharge its duties and realize its respon- 
sibilities. 

You are citizens of a free republic with a territory of vast 
extent washed on either side by the two great oceans of the 
world, embracing every variety of soil and climate, a land 



53 
whose surface is large enough in area and rich enough in 
soil to raise crops sufficient to feed the whole human race, 
and underlaid with a mineral wealth be^^ond the power of 
figures to compute — a republic in which every man is a 
sovereign, the equal in the eye of the law of every other 
man and having an equal voice in the making of the laws to 
which all are subject — a country in which there is not only 
no interference by law with a proper and healthy competition 
among workmen for superiority or supremacy, but whose 
laws are so administered as to encourage every workman to 
excel his associates by greater industry or better knowledge. 

The only impediment to such deserved distinction as 
attends superior merit, is to be found in such practices as 
destroy the incentive of the individual to reach the highest 
standard by the cultivation of industry, sobriety and in- 
tegrity, in fixing the compensation for all workmen, the 
efficient and inefficient alike at the same rigid figure. 

The census of 1890 recently published shows that your 
country has a population exceeding 62,000,000 and an 
assessed valuation of $24,000,000,000 (Twent5^-four thous- 
and million of dollars) of property and according to the 
usual recognized and admitted difference between assess- 
ments for taxation and actual values, these figures indicate 
an aggregate national wealth of $62,000,000,000 (Sixty-two 
thousand millions) an average of $1 ,000 to each man, woman 
and child. These official statistics prove the United States 
to be by $12,000,000,000 the richest country in the world 



54 
exceeding Great Britain, which had previously been the first, 
by $12,000,000,000 and France by $16,000,000,000. The 
actual increase in wealth during the last decade from 1880 
to 1890 being $18,000,000,000, a sum larger than the whole 
aggregate wealth of the country in i860 which then repre- 
sented the accumulations of seventy j^ears. The per capita 
share twice what it was in i860, one-third larger than in 
1870 and one-fifth larger than in 1880. A country which 
within the last twenty-five years has reduced its national 
debt from $2,758,000,000 to $977,000,000, and in ten years 
from 1880 to 1890 has added $2,000,000,000 to its capital 
invested in manufactures alone, an increase of nearly 75 
per cent., and in the same time increasing the annual 
value of its manufactured products from $5,300,000,000 to 
$8,600,000,000 or in other words producing manufactured 
goods at the rate of $3,300,000,000 a year above the pro- 
ducts of ten years ago. The increase in capital invested in 
manufacturing within the last ten years is greater than the 
entire amount of capital invested in that industr^^ only 
twenty 3^ears ago. And in the same period of ten years this 
countr}^ has built 73,500 miles of rail road, almost as much 
as the total mileage of 1880, at a cost for construction and 
equipment of $4,030,000,000. 

In regard to gold and silver coin and bullion and paper 
money secured by and redeemed in coin, regarded as one of 
the most positive and reliable tests of the actual wealth of a 
nation and indicative of the legitimate demands of business, 
it maj^ be stated from official sources that the aggregate on 



55 
July ist, 1880, was $1,205,929.17, being $19.41 per capita of 
population, and on July ist, 1891, these figures had been 
increased to $2,100,130,092, being $23.45 per capita. 

As compared with foreign leading commercial nations the 
following statement is made as to gold and silver coin and 
bullion carried by the representative financial institutions on 
October ist, 1891 : The Bank of England held $125,000,000; 
the Bank of Germany, $225,000,000; the Bank of France, 
$515,000,000 and the United States Treasurj^ and National 
Banks together held $845,000,000,000. 

The number of patents issued for useful inventions up to 
1880 was 223,211, and from 1880 to 1890 there were issued 
195,454, and the aggregate up to October ist, 1891, is 
460,545. 

A country whose crop for the present year alone (1891) of 
what is known as cereal productions, used as food such as 
wheat, corn, rye and barley (apart from other productions 
of immense value such as cotton, hay, fruits, oil, metals and 
domestic animals) has amounted to 1,000,000,000 of bushels 
having an actual market value at present prices of 
$1,732,000,000 about $500,000,000 more than that of last 
year. 

And in this same year 1891 nearly $75,000,000 in gold has 
been furnished b}^ the United States to Europe upon a sudden 
call to that effect to relieve its bankers and capitalists from 
financial embarrassments, and another $100,000,000 it is 
estimated have been sent abroad to meet the expenditures 
made by American tourists and pleasure seekers, and all this 



56 

immense exportation of the gold of the country without 
producing any serious disturbance of its financial condition. 

No other nation shows such a growth in population or 
material wealth and progress ; and in this connection it may 
be remarked, if incidentally, with perfect propriety and entire 
truthfulness, that during these years of unexampled pros- 
perity and increase, the policy of the general government 
has been steadily in the direction of protection to American 
labor and fostering of American industries under what 
is known as the protective tariff system of imposing duties 
on foreign imports. 

The responsive assent from this large and intelligent 
audience to the truism expressed in the above paragraph, 
induces me to add that the Board of Trustees of this School 
as now constituted propose to teach as part of its course of 
instruction, three great principles, viz : patriotism, pro- 
tection and piety, but not in a partisan or political spirit, — a 
patriotism which shall be national not sectional , a protection 
which shall be' general and reciprocal, not special or limited, 
and a piety which shall be pure and practical and free from 
sectarian bias, as these were the principles which I. V. 
Williamson believed in and practised. 

You are a part of this great nation — 3"OU are to assist in 
keeping up and increasing its prosperity, and maintaining 
its character in the family of nations. 

Your success or failure in life is to a large extent in your 
own hands. It was the design and purpose of I. V. Wil- 
liamson, and it is the intention of the trustees charged with 
the duty of administering the trust committed to them, to 



57 
furnish you with all the means, facilities and inducements to 
make your lives successful. The Trustees of this school, 
with its President, Superintendent, corps of teachers and all 
other emplo3^ees will endeavor to do their full dut}^ to you in 
their respective positions as managers, instructors and care- 
takers, and they ask in return that you will do the same in 
your position as scholars — that 5^ou will be respectful to 
them and obedient to rules, that you will be diligent in the 
school-room, and industrious in the work-shop, judicious in 
5^our amusements and recreation (for which ample time will 
be allowed you), correct in your habits, courteous in man- 
ner and unselfish in conduct to each other, pure in thought, 
chaste in speech, and above all, honorable and upright in 
sentiment and feeling, and truthful both in act and language. 

They also ask that when 3^ou have finished your course of 
three years, more or less, in this school, and leave its walls 
with a certificate of proficiency in your various trades, that 
you will carry into your daily lives, and manifest by your 
actions the results of your tuition and training here. That 
you will feel an honorable pride in your respective callings, 
that you will make your employer's interests 5"Our own — 
work for him and with him as if for yourselves — that you 
will show readiness to do not only your allotted tasks, but a 
willingness to go beyond them, and thus insure 3'our success 
by making yourselves so indispensable to him as to compel 
him to realize that he cannot do without j'ou, and thus com- 
mand your own terms as to wages. 

You are all now at the most impressionable period of 3"Our 
lives, just at that age when character is forming, and it is 



58 

reasonably certain that the lessons here learned, the habits 
here formed, the principles of thought and action here ac- 
quired, will mould and determine your future careers. 

' ' In morals as well as in mathematics the straight line is 
the shortest distance between two points." Try to walk 
this straight, short line ; strive to be direct and honest in all 
things. Love Truth with a deep and absorbing passion. 
Make the obser^^ance of it the rule of your lives, avoiding 
even the slightest approach to falsehood and deception. 
This is the corner-stone and foundation upon which alone 
can be erected that structure in the moral being, known as 
character, which rests upon and grows out of correct princi- 
ples and pure thoughts, producing good acts and making a 
useful, noble life, which is in itself a living truth. 

" This above all : to thine own self be true, 
And it must follow as the night the day, 
Thou cans't not then be false to any man." 

In a recentl)^ published article from the pen of the accom- 
plished John Russell Young, giving some reminiscences of 
that distinguished statesman and patriot, Hamilton Fish, who 
still lives full of j^ears and honors, chief among which is 
that of having been for eight years the trusted personal 
friend and confidential official adviser of General Grant while 
President, he was asked by Mr. Young what he considered 
the dominant quality of Grant's nature, and he replied at 
once and with emphasis, "absolute truthfulness, complete, 
inflexible veracity." So that great as was General Grant 
in his courage, in his military genius, in his sagacity, his 



59 
magnanimity, his knowledge of men and affairs, the greatest 
of all his great qualities was his love for and devotion to pure 
and absolute truthfulness. 

All that has been said to you on this subject has been well 
condensed in some sound and sensible advice given to the 
scholars in Girard College b}^ one of its directors, himself a 
living example of what can be accomplished by a life of 
purity, truthfulness and uprightness, unselfishly devoted to 
good work. This good man and useful citizen, trusted and 
honored b}' the communit}^ in which he lives and labors as 
few men have been, who, although born of a distinguished 
family, was poor in this world's goods, beginning his business 
career in the lowest position in a store, has by the cultivation 
and practice of the principles to which reference has been 
made, risen to the distinction of being one of the most 
eminent bankers and financial authorities in the land. In 
one of the excellent addresses made b}^ him to the pupils of 
the College he says : 

' ' I sa}^ then to j^ou boys , do your best ; be honest and 
diligent, be resolute to live a pure and honorable life, speak 
the truth like bo3^s who hope to be gentlemen, be merry if 
3^ou will, for it is good to be merry and wise, be loving and 
dutiful sons, be affectionate brothers, be loyal hearted friends 
and when 5''OU come to be men you will look back to these 
bojdsh days without regret and without shame. 

" Something like this is my ideal of a boy. I am very 
desirous that your future shall be bright and useful and 
successful, and I, and others who are interested in your 
welfare, will hope to hear nothing but good of you ; but we 
can have no greater j 03^ than to hear that you are walking 
in the truth. Some of 3'ou may become rich men, some may 
become ver}- prominent in public affairs ; and reach high 
places ; 3^ou ma}' fill a large space in the public estimation ; 



6o 

you may be able and brilliant men, but there is nothing in 
your life that will give us so much joy as to hear that you 
are walking in the truth. ' ' 

" Truth is the foundation of all the virtues, and without 
it reputation is absolutely worthless. No gentleness of dis- 
position, no willingness to help other people, no habits of 
industry can make up for want of truthfulness of heart and 
life. Some persons think that if they work long and hard, 
and deny themselves for the good of others, and do many 
generous and noble acts, and have a good reputation, they 
can even tell lies sometimes and not be much blamed. 
But they forget that reputation is not character ; that one 
may have a very good reputation and a very bad character, 
they forget that the reputation is the outside, what we see of 
each other, while the character is what we are in heart." 

There can be no more fitting conclusion to this address 
than the expression of the wish that you will all take to 
heart and profit by these words of sound wisdom and 
fatherly affection. 

Mr. HuEy said : 

The Trustees of the Williamson School are profoundly 
grateful to the other educational institutions of this country 
for their kindly sj'^mpathy and assistance while we have been 
deliberating and building. They early gave Us to under- 
stand that an}^ information in their power to give was at 
our service, and that they would esteem it a favor if we 
would call upon them freely for the results of their experi- 
ence. One of the most prominent of these, the University 
of Pennsylvania, further testifies its interest in us by sending 
one of its most eminent professors, who promptly responded 
to our invitation that he should address us this afternoon. 
It is with much pleasure that I introduce to you Professor 
George F. Barker, of the University of Pennsylvania. 



6i 



Address by Professor George F. Barker, of the 
University of Pennsylvania. 

I do not quite understand wh}^, save by the kind partiality 
of ni}'^ friend Mr. Townsend, I should have been asked to say 
a word upon this interesting occasion, unless, perhaps, for 
the reason that a portion of my early life was spent in the 
workshop, and that in consequence of this apprenticeship, 
I have a warm sympathy with my young friends before me 
who have just entered the Williamson Free School of Me- 
chanical Trades to fit themselves for the work of life. 

I should not be true to my own feelings therefore, if I did 
not respond to this invitation and say this word to-daj''. If 
I did not avail myself of this opportunity^ to express, in the 
first place, my gratification at what I see here, and to rejoice, 
not only in the benevolence of Mr. Williamson, but also at 
the highly satisfactory^ way in which the Trustees have car- 
ried his intention into effect, and, aided by President Shrigley 
and Superintendent Crawford, have provided these excel- 
lently arranged and well equipped buildings. If I did not 
also express the cordial good wishes of the great University 
with which I am connected, for the success of this move- 
ment for the education of the hand as well as the head. If, 
finally, I did not say what I could to assist and encourage 
you who are taking to-da}^ the most important step of your 
lives. 

With you, I have listened with great pleasure to the ad- 
mirable address of Mr. Townsend. So complete is it that I 



62 

feel, that in speaking to you, I can hardly do more than echo 
his words of advice and counsel. At such a time as this 
the thought involuntarily arises ; what are the results that 
should be obtained in such an Institution as this, endowed 
so liberally and furnished so abundantly with all the appli- 
ances needed to carry on its work ? Education, it should ever 
be remembered, is the development of the student's powers 
by his own exertions. The most competent instructors, the 
best machines and tools, no matter how liberally provided, 
can aid the work only by furnishing opportunities. To at- 
tain the coveted championship, the athlete must himself 
enter upon a course of training, and must develop«^ his mus- 
cle solely by his own exercise of them. The same is true of 
education. Physiologists tell us that in the brain there are 
cells of gra}^ matter in which all mental and nervous power 
originates. Some of these cells are devoted to the control 
of muscular action ; others to the production of thought. 
The education of these cells is a process which consists sim- 
ply of a repetition upon them of impressions from without. 
By these repeated impressions, the cell is modified in its struc- 
ture and residua are left within it, in virtue of which it 
responds more and more promptly with each repetition, and 
reproduces more exactly the originating impressions. How 
slow and irregular for example are the motions of a child 
when it is learning to walk ; how uncertain at first are the 
movements of the hands, when a beginner is learning to 
play the piano. But as, by repetition the cells concerned in 
these actions become educated, the required operations are 



63 

performed, not only certainlj^ and rapidl}^ but often auto- 
matically and without conscious effort. 

Perhaps it will be useful for us to-day to consider a little 
more, at length, the difference between thought-cells and 
motor-cells. Thought-cells are concerned in pureh'' mental 
operations ; they enable us to think and to reason. Motor- 
cells furnish the impulses by which muscular actions are 
originated, and motions of the bod}^ or its parts are per- 
formed. Hitherto in the past, education has consisted 
mainly in producing impressions upon the thought-cells and 
in organizing residua in them. This operation constitutes 
the intellectual education of the college and the university. 

In these latter days, however, the motor-cells are claiming 
a share in the educational movement. Hence, industrial 
schools have arisen, the object of which is to train these 
motor-cells that the responses, both muscular and sensorial, 
which they make to the calls upon them, shall be prompt 
and effective. 

But this is only a portion of the truth. Precisely as in 
intellectual education it is found desirable to some extent 
also to train the sense to perceive and the hands to execute, 
so on the other hand industrial education, intelligence in the 
use of mechanical appliances, requires a collateral education 
of the intellect. It is in the intelligence of the American 
Mechanic that this superiorit}^ lies. Hence, as I understand 
the matter it is the object of this Williamson School to teach 
the students who come within its walls, the intelligent use 
of tools. 



64 

The practical man of to-day, however, must do more than 
execute. He must originate. He must not only do work 
which others have done before him and do it better than they 
have done it, but he must devise and solve new problems 
never before considered — he must contrive new and better 
methods of producing desirable results. Now, it is in the 
thought cells that the faculty of originality resides and hence 
the power to invent new devices and to supply new methods 
results from education of the intelligence. His value as an 
employee it maj^ be, lies in his power to execute ; but his 
value to the community as a mechanician lies in his power 
to originate. True the genius of invention is often tardily 
recognized and at the outset at least goes unrewarded. Edison 
as a telegraph operator, was easily among the first in his 
calling, but his originality and fertility in invention which 
have now made him the foremost inventor of the day, cost 
him more than once his position as an operator. That 
eminent Philadelphian, Joseph ^xton, whom Professor Bache 
pronounced ' ' the greatest mechanical genius the world ever 
saw ' ' and who finally attained to the honor of membership in 
the National Academy of Sciences, was for many years un- 
recognized. Although he made the clock which now keeps 
time in the tower of Independence Hall , yet it was in I^ondon 
that he subsequently made the first magneto-electric machine 
and obtained the first magneto -electric spark. He was recalled 
from Europe to build the first machinery of the Philadelphia 
Mint and he constructed the dies which were used at that 
Mint during seven years, and was finally appointed Superin- 



65 

tendent of Weights and Measures in the United States Coast 
Surve}^ in Washington. There he constructed the Govern- 
ment standards and made a balance which would weigh to a 
three-millionth part of its load. James Watt, the illustrious 
inventor of the steam engine, when onl}^ six years old, was 
observed one day drawing all sorts of lines on the floor with 
a piece of chalk — a friend of his father's remonstrated, saying 
" Why do 3^ou allow that bo}^ to waste his time. Send him 
to the public school," before you criticise, replied his father, 
' ' examine what he is doing. ' ' It turned out that he was 
attempting the solution of a problem in geometr5^ Even at 
the age of fourteen his grandmother said to him , " I never 
saw such an idle boy as joxx are. Do take a book and emplo}^ 
yourself usefully, upwards of a half an hour has elapsed 
without 5' our sajdng a single word. Do you know what you 
have been doing all this time ? You have taken off and 
replaced and taken off again the tea pot lid, and you have 
alternatel}^ held in the steam that came out, first a saucer and 
then a spoon, you have busied yourself in examining and 
collecting together the little drops formed by the condensa- 
tion of the steam on the surface of the china and of the silver ; 
is it not disgraceful to waste your time in this manner ? ' ' 
and yet out of these simple experiments, by which the boy 
was educating his thought cells, came that wonderful 
machinery which has done as much to advance civilization 
as an3^ device invented by man. Herodotus tells us that to 
build the Great Pyramid required the work of 100,000 men 
for twent}' 3' ears. B>" the aid of one of the immense steam 



66 

engines now in common use in our ocean steamers a single 
man could complete this amount of work in six weeks. 
. It may perhaps appear to you that I have not been fortu- 
nate in my selection of illustrious examples, since neither 
Watt nor Saxton, nor Edison ever had more than a few 
months of education, and that only in the common school. 
But I have mentioned these names advisedly. They attained 
their high positions in the world in spite of their early disad- 
vantages. Watt, owing to feeble health, and Saxton and 
Bdison because of limited means, were not able to avail 
themselves of the education of the schools. Because of 
the great power given to them by Nature, which enabled 
them to train their thought-cells, themselves unaided by out- 
side appliances, they were able to achieve success. No such 
success is possible without this cell education. It may be 
obtained by laborious self-study without assistance, or it 
may be obtained by the use of all available appliances. 
Great as many men have become who have educated them- 
selves, it is impossible now to believe that they might have 
been even greater had the helps of the world also been 
available and availed of. Hence, the wisdom of creating 
schools for the education of the eye and the hand as well as 
the mind. In this Williamson School the Watts, and Sax- 
tons, and Edisons of to-day can find the education they de- 
sire, and more than all, can find it at a price they can all 
afford to pay. 

The object of education then, my young friends, is to im- 
prove the natural talents with which you are endowed. To 



67 

do this, you must avail yourselves of ever}'- opportunity to 
exert upon the brain-cells those impressions which you are 
likely to want in 5'our life-work, either as such or as con- 
stituent elements in the new combinations 3^ou desire to 
produce. In future j^ears 5^ou are likely to have splendid 
opportunities offered you to make both reputation and for- 
tune. How unfortunate would it be, if when you seek in 
the brain-cells for the stored knowledge necessary to enable 
you to utilize these opportunities, you should find these cells 
empty, through neglect of the educational facilities here sup- 
plied to you. lyike Mother Hubbard, you find the cupboard 
bare and disastrous consequences follow. Let me urge you 
then to make ever>^ use of the opportunities here offered. 
Believe your instructors when they assure 5^ou that every- 
thing which you are taught in this school will have impor- 
tant applications in 5^our future life. Some years ago a 
writer in the British Quarterly Review made the statement 
that a bar of iron costing but one pound sterling could be 
made into horse shoes worth two and a half pounds, into 
table knives worth thirty -six pounds, into needles worth 
seventy-one pounds, into penknife blades worth six hundred 
and ninety-seven pounds, or into the balance springs of 
watches worth fifty thousand pounds. But iron is passive 
and can only be worked upon. You are active and must do 
yourselves the work of education which is needed to increase 
your value. You are in every sense the arbiters of your own 
fortunes. You alone can say whether you shall be worth to 
the generation in which you live fifty thousand times as 



68 

much as you were when you entered the Williamson School, 
or whether you shall be worth only two and a half times 
as much. Which shall it be ? 

At the conclusion of the address Mr, HuEy said : 
With the permission of the audience the students will now 
retire, and thirty-five of them will go at once to the work- 
shop and take their places at their benches. After they 
have left the room the friends present are invited and urged 
to make a thorough examination of the grounds and build- 
ings, and to inspect the shops in so far as the}"- are equipped. 
Everj^thing is open to you and we trust that you will avail 
yourselves of this opportunit}^ to become thoroughly 
acquainted with what is being done here, and appreciate the 
kindl}^ thought of the man who made this School a possibility. 

Mr. Townsend addressing the boys, then said: 
You and we are honored by the presence on this platform 
of one of the original Trustees of this School, who in its 
organization and early working gave faithful and intelligent 
attention to the duties of the position until he was called to 
a higher plane and wider field of action , in which he is serv- 
ing the country with signal ability and usefulness. He too, 
is another conspicuous example of a self made man. His 
start in life was as an ofiice boy upon a very slender salary, 
but by the exercise of the qualities referred to in the address 
to which }^ou have listened, he has achieved an enviable 
distinction. He has been known to the community in which 
he has lived and labored for more than thirty years as an 



69 

upright, successful merchant and consistent Christian, and 
in later years has achieved a national fame as an intelligent, 
indefatigable and honest cabinet minister. He was a near 
and valued friend of the founder of this school. His good 
heart is always with us, and, although a very busy public 
man, he is with us here to-day to show his interest in our 
work. I take great pleasure in introducing to you Post- 
master General John Wanamaker, who spoke as follows : 

Address of Hon. John Wanamaker. 
Mr. President, — 

I respond at your command, though I was not appointed 
to speak to-day. The speakers who have preceded me have 
therefore had the advantage of me and I am without a 
manuscript or any notes. But my whole heart is beating so 
fast with its old love for the little, quiet Quaker man, whose 
face looks down from the wall upon us, that I must give 
expression to my sense of gratitude for this great benefaction 
he has spread around and over these boys who are hence- 
forth his children. We who are guardians are but step- 
fathers. He was, and is, the real great hearted father whose 
memory will brighten as the years roll on. 

In your admirable address, Mr. Chairman of the Board, 
you spoke of him as a country boy, doing the usual boy's 
work about the farm . I wonder if he ever planted a tree ? 
Among all the country boys that ever blessed our city, by 
their examples of diligence, uprightness and usefulness. 



70 

which of them all ever planted such a tree as this, the fruit 
of which, will, in all the ages to come, be shelter, education 
and inspiration to thousands of the boys of Pennsylvania. 

You fine fellows who have been honored to be the first on 
the roll and who are to head the procession and set the copy 
by 3^ our endeavors and successes, for the long line of boys 
that are to follow, are fortunate in not having been born too 
soon. By the use you make of your opportunity will the 
influence of not only your lives, but of this long thought of 
and carefully planned school, be felt throughout the land. 

One day, in New York, when the Cooper Institute was in 
course of completion, there came in to one of the rooms, 
where painters were at work at a ceiling, an old man wearing 
a slouch hat, to whom the painters called, " Say, old man, 
will you stead}^ this scaffold a little, while we finish the work 
up here ? ' ' and the old man quickly took hold of the ladders 
on which they stood and kept them from falling while they 
worked. That old man, though they knew it not, was 
Peter Cooper, the philanthropist, who was putting his 
money into that great building which was to be a great 
scaffold on which young men were to stand while they 
worked hard to get an education for their life work. When 
was it that Peter Cooper would 'nt lend a hand when he could 
help his fellow -men ? 

This building and the others that cluster about it and still 
more to come shall be the scaffolding that Isaiah V. William- 
son will hold up for boys to put unfading color and character 
upon their lives . While our benefactor lived , there were some 



who looked upon him walking the streets, to and from his 
little office, clad in old fashioned, well worn, but well kept 
clothes, who said that he was a mean man ; but to-day you 
see by all these signs about 3'ou what kind of meanness it 
was that animated his life. He saved his mone}^ that he 
might save boys, who would need an education, that he 
once knew the need of himself. 

Down along the Potomac River, twenty miles below 
Washington, at Indian Head, at this very hour, the Secre- 
tary of the Navy and many scientific men are engaged 
in testing the nickel-plate armor, intended to encase the 
battle-ships of the Government. Some of our gentle hearted, 
peace loving Quaker friends, may think our Nation does not 
need war ships, but it may be handy to have them around, 
whenever our foreign relations grow in any way " chilly." 
The experiments with the armor are to ascertain how far it 
will resist our great guns, that throw cannon balls against 
it. The results of these tests of armor will be watched all 
over the world, and so this becomes a doubly historic day, 
by the additional event of the opening of this Industrial 
School, intended to project against this world, in days to 
come, forces of the most tremendous power, to promote its 
peace and order. 

You are the great guns to be loaded in this magazine with 
the powers of cultivated minds, trained eyes, skilled hands 
and uplooking hearts, by which your well rounded lives will 
be irresismble when you come in connection with the world. 



The greatest want of this age is men. Pennsylvania has 



never been wanting in some such like Matthew Baldwin, 
John Welsh and I. V. Williamson, but she does wisely in 
planting here some of her best boys, that they may grow into 
the right kind of men . But the making of a good man requires 
a good boy ; an idle, careless, wasteful boy is not likely to 
be much of a man. The last thing that I think my old 
friend, Mr. Williamson, would care to do, would be to waste 
a thousand dollars on a ten cent boy, trying the impossible 
thing of making a man out of him. 

We are your friends to help you all we can , but your chief 
help must, under God, be yourselves. You shall not lack 
for cheer and counsel. The Chairman of the Board of Trus- 
tees, whose wise words to-day, I trust, will be printed, that 
each bo}^ who comes into the school, may know its history 
and its aims, will always be your sympathizing, true friend. 
Mr. Cummins, who of all others was possibly the nearest 
friend of Mr. Williamson, is deeply interested in you and 
his friendship is worth your having. Whenever you see 
him, take off j'-our hats to him, as you would to the founder 
of this school. And now, then, in conclusion of this 
already long, impromptu speech, in the evening of this 
beautiful Indian Summer day, I charge you, young men of 
the school, entering upon a new era of your lives, to so use 
these recitation halls and workshops, that your industry and 
high resolves, while you strive together here, may be to you 
all, the sunrise of noble lives. 

Mr. Huey : 

We hoped to have with us to-day Col. Richard T. 
Auchmuty, founder and principal of the New York Trades 



73 
School, who was the pioneer and is a successful leader in 
the work in which we are interested, but being unable to be 
present in person, he has sent the following letter : 

lyENOx, Mass., October 23d, 1891. 
President John M. Shrigley, 

Dear Sir : — I regret that it will not be possible for me to 
avail myself of the kind invitation of the Trustees and 
Officers of the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, 
to be present and make an address at the opening exercises 
on Saturday, October 31 St. 

May all of us who have undertaken the training of our 
young countrymen in the mechanical art, remember that this 
country not only needs and can have the best skilled work- 
men in the world, but that it also needs workmen who will 
be good citizens, loyal to our institutions and believing in 
American ideas of liberty and justice. 

Yours very trul}^ 

RICHARD T. AUCHMUTY. 



